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Candidates for Assembly Andrew Zwicker and Maureen Vella Call on Jack Ciattarelli and Donna Simon to Support Gun Safety Bill.

Somerville, NJ -- Today, in response to the news that Senator Kip Bateman (R-16) will join two other Republican Senators and vote with their Democratic colleagues to override the Governor’s veto of S-2360, NJ General Assembly Democratic candidates for the 16th Legislative District, Andrew Zwicker and Maureen Vella, urged their Republican opponents to vote to override the Governor’s veto of the bill when it reaches the Assembly. S-2360 is a public safety bill that would give law enforcement a voice and the courts more information when people seek to have their mental health records expunged in order to purchase a firearm.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Fred Madden the former Acting Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, and Republican Senator James Holzapfel was co-sponsored by Senator Linda Greenstein and Republican senators Kip Bateman and Jennifer Beck. Republican Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick is one of the prime Assembly sponsors.

Former judge Maureen Vella said, “I am cautiously optimistic about Senator Bateman’s vote to override the veto. Clearly, he’s listening. Now I’m urging our Republican opponents to follow his example, and for the first time in their careers vote to override the Governor’s veto of this commonsense gun legislation.”

Princeton University scientist Andrew Zwicker remarked, “Now that Senator Bateman has done the right thing, supporting a bill he sponsored, I can tell you that the work is only one third of the way done. Jack Ciattarelli and Donna Simon also voted in support of this bill, yet they have never once voted to override a veto and recently refused to commit to vote for this override,” said Zwicker. “We need to stop making decisions based on political calculations and start making these decisions based on evidence. And the evidence clearly shows that tough sensible gun laws work in reducing gun violence. We call on Ciattarelli and Simon to publicly pledge to support the veto override vote when it makes it to the floor of the General Assembly.

Princeton, NJ -- There they go again. Republican candidates in New Jersey's 16th Legislative District who said they were going to stick to the issues have turned nasty in a campaign mailer. "Maureen Vella & Andrew Zwicker sound a lot like like two other liberal Democrats you know," it says, picturing the two Democratic Assembly candidates with unflattering photographs of former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama.

"We are proud to be associated with President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton," said Andrew Zwicker and Maureen Vella, Democratic candidates for Assembly in the 16th Legislative District of New Jersey. "The Republicans spent a lot of time to find photos that are years out of date in an obvious attempt to make us look bad without responding to New Jersey's compelling issues of gun violence, high property taxes, affordable health care and one of the country's most persistently elevated unemployment rates. This is certainly in keeping with Chris Christie's tactic to trying to bully dissent into silence."

It is ironic that just a short time ago, Jack C. and Donna S wrote a letter where they said, "We look forward to a spirited campaign that focuses attention squarely on issues relevant to citizens of the district and state. Indeed, citizens stand to benefit greatly from our Assembly race, provided everyone is committed to running an issue-based campaign...Our sincere hope is that this Assembly race will not have this effect on voters . . . that this contest will not be a campaign ultimately characterized as "silly". . . that we're better than any "smear campaign" and "gutter politics."

Campaign Manager Seth Levin said, “This is more politics as usual. This is why we need legislators, like Andrew and Maureen, with a new approach and new ideas that are not based on political ideology, but driven by evidence and facts. I am disappointed, but not surprised, that Mr. Ciattarelli and Ms. Simon would stoop to this level. Because that is what desperate politicians do – resort to name calling to distract from their blind support of the failed policies of Governor Christie.”

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For more information about this topic, please contact [SETH LEVIN] by calling [732-783-4096], or e-mail [SETH] at [zwickervellaforassembly@gmail.com].